Tike-boot



NITED STATES EDGAR M. STEELL, OF SPOKAE, W'ASHINGTON rinnnoor.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Feb. 24, 1920.

Application le October 30, 1918. Serial No. 266,381.'v

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, EDGAR M. STnnLL, a citizen ofthe 'United States,residmg at Spokane, in the county of Spokane and State of Washington,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Tire- Boots, ofwhich the following is a specilication.

The present invention relates to improvements in tire boots, orreinforcing members for pneumatic tires and is designed pri marily forthe purpose of providing a strong, flexible protection against blow-outsor the like, and is intended for use inside of a casing to cover ablow-out, fracture or weak place in the tire; l

Unlike common devices for this purpose my invention aims to maintainitself-against displacement, to hold the fracture together, to entirelyrelieve the injured portion of the 'casing from strain, and to preventfriction.

Further than this I have provided a boot or inner liner which will notinjure the case whether of cord or fabric and which will take uponitself the entire pressure over the portion of the tire that it covers,thus relieving entire strain upon the injured portion of the casing. Inaddition, it is so constructed that a portion of it is prevented fromentering a fracture or blowout and becoming pinched or worn fromfriction with the edges of the blow-out and thus in turn becominlgIweakened and failing 'to serve its purpose.

A. prime feature 4of my invention residesl of the yinventioniisillustrated vsl'lovving the manner of -construction and position,assumed to protect a casing and its tube against blow-outs according tothe best mode so far devised for the practical application of the'principles of the invention.

Figurel is a perspective View of my tire boot or liner showing thesurface thereof covered with projecting spurs or points.

Fig. 2 is a cross section through a casing and rim indicating the mannerof placing the boot Within the casing to reinforce the same. l

Fig. 3 is a plan view of a fragment of the metal spur supportingstructure which is constructed in. my boot and becomes apart thereof. i

In the embodiment of the invention as illustrated in"the drawing theboot is specially adapted for.covering a fracture or blow-out of acasing, of maintaining itself in a fixed position, of eliminatingfriction by reason of its being fixed and of 1nain- 'taining thefracture or bloweout closed and free from strain. As the spurs will eachand every one be forced into the inner body of the case by pressure ofair Within ltho' tube, the spurs thus entering the casing will maintainthe boot against expansion and the strain due 'to the pressure will beentirely placed upon said boot.

The numeral 1 indicates lthe outer casing with its rim 2, an inner tube3 being used in the usual manner. The boot shown as a "whole at l isconstructed of a strong fabric menrl'icr 5 and a similar but lighterfabric member' (l and between these two members a met-al lattice Twhichis the preferred form that I have adopted. The lattice member 7 isprovided at intervals to receive spurs 8 or points projecting outwardlyand through, the vfabric The lattice 7 is intended to maintain the spurpoints against displacement, tipping or the like and is constructed of alight metal, preferably a resilient or spring metal, to which the studs8 may be secured, or if preferred, the studs may be formed of the samemetal and out of the same piece. The lattice structure 7 consistsprimarily of base members 9 and connecting bars 10, the base member 9receiving the oints 8 a'ndvhaving a substantial base or aring. Theconnecting bars l() are coniparatively narrowf and form connectionsbetween the .'basemembers 9 which will be 'essentially flexible andvallow the lattice structure to conform to the shape intended for L,theboot.

The outer after the in supporting lattice is in place, are inten ed tobe vulcanized or cemented together so that no Inetal parts can come incontact with the inner tube 3 to rust or other- Wise, injure the tube.Yy

When the boot is constructed as described it .may be inserted into acase under a blowfabric 5 and inner fabric 6,v

. pressure it will be evident that before the eXtreme air pressurenecessary for infiating the tire has been reached, 'the tire will berelieved over the area covered by the boot and the boot `will absorbthe' strain. The fabric itself being made of a reasonably strongmaterial will absorb a part, but the main strain will be taken up by themetal lattice embedded between the 'boot fabrics which will be placedunder a certain tension that will prevent the boot itself from beingforced into the opening 0r fracture in the tire, this in itselfpreventing wear on the boot owing to friction and contact with the loadand at the same time the fracture will be held closed in the sainemanner as when the tire was deflated.

By using a. great number of small, fine pointed spurs I am enabled notonly to eliminate friction between the casing or tire,

and the boot, but to evenly distribute the strain over the entire bootand the spurs will each support a portion of t-he casing to preventshifting or stretching. The spurs over the outer area of the boot willengage the undamaged part of the casing and transfer the strains to theboot. The spurs in the central area will keep the cut closed and preventfriction and heating.

l. The combination with a tire casing of a reinforcing boot comprisingan outer fabrie layer and an inner fabric layer, of a metallicreinforcing element adapted to eooperate with said outer and innerfabric layers and interposed therebetween, said ele ment consisting of athin, durable flexible body pierced at intervals and forming a lattice-like structure with spaced base members and connecting 'barsbetween, metallic spurs arranged on said base members and extend` ingthrough the outer layer of fabric and adapted to pierce the inner wallof the casing.

2. The combination with a tire casing, of a reinforcing boot comprisingan outer fabric layer and an inner fabric layer, of an open workflexible metallic structure .be tween said fabrics and adapted tovcooperate therewith, said structure comprising spaced integrallyConnected bases having outstanding spurs thereon, said spurs passingout-- ward through the outer fabric structure and engaging the innerwall of the casing over =the entire area of the boot.

3, The combination with a fractured tire i casing, of a flexible bootcomprising inner and outer layers, a series of integrally con' nected,closely spaced, metallic bases loe tween the layers and means forfastening the layers together, and radiating'spurs on the 'bases passingthrough the outer layer and piercing the inner wall of the casingclosely adjacent the edges of the fracture. v

In testimony whereof I affixm si nature,

EDGAR M. l TE

